FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2016, file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio listens to a video presentation of the findings from a five-year investigation into the authenticity of President Barack Obama's birth certificate during a news conference in Phoenix. Arpaio has left office with a mixed legacy on immigration, jails and other key issues. Critics accused him of being a publicity-driven bully who treated powerless people harshly because it was popular with voters. His supporters counter that heâs a standup guy who did what the public wanted and was the only local police official in Arizona to move against illegal immigration. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
The Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) - Critics have accused metro Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio of being a publicity-driven bully who treated powerless people harshly because it was popular with voters.
His supporters counter that he's a standup guy who did what the public wanted and was the only local police official in Arizona to move against illegal immigration.
Sunday marked the end of Arpaio's 24-year tenure as the top law enforcer in the region.
Along with the immigration crackdowns, his legacy includes housing jail inmates in tents, dressing them in pink underwear and making them work on chain gangs - tactics that kept him popular among voters who believed jail wasn't supposed to be easy on criminals.
Now, Arpaio is leaving office after being charged with a crime himself - misdemeanor contempt-of-court for prolonging his immigration patrols against the orders of a federal judge.
The 84-year-old Arpaio has acknowledged the contempt violation but says it wasn't intentional.
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Follow Jacques Billeaud at twitter.com/jacquesbilleaud. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/jacques-billeaud.
FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2009, file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, left, orders approximately 200 convicted illegal immigrants handcuffed together and moved into a separate area of Tent City, for incarceration until their sentences are served and they are deported to their home countries, in Phoenix. Arpaio has left office with a mixed legacy on immigration, jails and other key issues. Critics accused him of being a publicity-driven bully who treated powerless people harshly because it was popular with voters. His supporters counter that heâs a standup guy who did what the public wanted and was the only local police official in Arizona to move against illegal immigration. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
The Associated Press